The invention lies in the field of vehicles and provides a vehicle extension which enhances the usefulness of a vehicle to which it is connected. Trailers which can be attached to the rear of a motor vehicle are very popular both with private individuals and with business offering a cheap and easy method of increasing the load space of a vehicle. However, conventional trailers swing in the horizontal about their singular ball joint attachment to the drive vehicle; the vehicle-trailer combination is considerably longer than the vehicle alone. Accordingly parking of the drive vehicle with a trailer attached can be tricky and in addition, the danger of jack-knifing the drive vehicle and trailer while reversing is always present.
South African patent No 87/9241 describes a trailer incorporating a swivelable wheel set and connected to the vehicle at two points, characterised in that the wheel set swivels in the manner of caster wheels under the trailer body when steering the vehicle around curves. This design shortens the overall length of vehicle and trailer and offers the potential for easier reversing, since the trailer is not swingable relative to the vehicle and jack-knifing is no longer possible. However, a single wheel set trailer can display certain disadvantages, especially when the trailer and drive vehicle to which the trailer is attached are being reversed. In particular, reversing may result in the trailer tipping downwards at the rear, a rear portion of the trailer digging into the ground and the front portion of the trailer lifting the rear of the vehicle, possibly causing loss of control or damage to both the drive vehicle and/or trailer. This arises because of the manner in which the wheel set is arranged to swivel towards the front of the trailer when reversing, giving inadequate support towards the rear of the trailer.